The disclosures herein relate generally to organizers and more particularly to a multi-leaf organizer with surfaces for retaining items such as a writing pad or documentation capable of being folded between a closed, compact position and a self-supported open position.
Organizers of various types are known. These various types of organizers allow an organizer user to secure items such as checklists, schedules, address/phone directories, reference materials and other similar types of documentation within the organizer. Many such organizers also provide one or more substantially rigid support surfaces for enabling notations to be made on a document or sheet of paper with a writing instrument. Although most organizers are used on a conventional surface, such as a desk or table, many can also be held by the user or rested on the user""s knee when a conventional surface is not available to support the unit. Some relevant suppliers of commercially available organizers include Saunders Office Products (www.saunders-usa.com), Day-Timer (www.daytimer.com) and Mead Corporation (www.mead.com).
One specific type of organizer is an organizer intended to be mounted on and/or attached to an appendage of a person, article or other type of body, in cases where a desk or other conventional surface is not available or desirable to support the unit. These types of organizers may include some type of structure for enabling the organizer to be mounted on and, in some cases, securely attached to an appendage of a body. An aviator kneeboard is an example of such an organizer capable of being mounted on and/or attached to the appendage of an aviator""s body. In this example, a structural element having an arched surface may be used to engage the aviator""s thigh and a retaining strap may be used to secure the organizer to the aviator""s thigh. Various types of aviator kneeboards are commercially available from sources such as Aviation Supplies and Academics Incorporated (www.asa2fly.com), Jeppesen Sanderson Incorporated (www.jeppesen.com), Sportsman""s Market Incorporated (www.sportys.com), Cencal Aviation Products (www.cencal.com), and LC Flight Products (www.lcflight.com), Flyboys (www.flyboys.com) and Harper Aviation (www.harper-aviation.com). Some of the commercially available kneeboard designs are derived from conventional office products such as clipboards, personal organizers and forms holders.
An organizer having a conventional construction suffers from one or more drawbacks. A multi-leaf organizer having a conventional construction is referred to herein as a conventional organizer. Examples of drawbacks associated with conventional organizers include but are not limited to one or more of the following limitations. A first limitation is associated with the difficulty of providing a horizontal working surface without directly supporting each of its leaves. A second limitation is associated with the difficulty of ensuring easy access and rapid closure of the organizer leaves. A third limitation is associated with the inability to flip through the contents of a ring-type binder and leave a third leaf unobstructed for viewing or jotting notes. A fourth limitation is associated with the difficulty of expanding or contracting the overall size of the unit to accommodate space available and functions required. A fifth limitation is associated with the cumbersome nature of holding, carrying or storing the unit. A sixth limitation is associated with the cumbersome use of the unit on a desktop when a base is employed. A seventh limitation is associated with the inability to add advanced organizer functionality to a standard ring-type binder.
Accordingly, a multi-leaf organizer capable of at least partially overcoming these drawbacks is useful.